


Promise me

by daydreamer2100



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Baby Jon, Before the show, Feels, Gen, Promise, Robert's Rebellion, Tower of Joy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 22:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15253086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamer2100/pseuds/daydreamer2100
Summary: When Ned Stark made it to the Tower of Joy he expected to find his sister and finally bring her home. She found her alright, but things didn't turn out as he hoped. Now he's faced with having to uphold a promise that will change his life forever.Or a fic about Ned's reaction to Lyanna's death and his new nephew.





	Promise me

“Promise me, Ned.” 

Lyanna’s words sent chills down Ned’s back, his heart hammering in his chest. He looked down at the newborn in his arms as a tear fell down his face. Very slowly, the child opened his eyes, staring up at him.

He was holding the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, the man Robert had smashed to pieces with his hammer, and his sister: Aegon Targaryen, his nephew. The past year rushed in front of his eyes, all the fighting, all the suffering… it had all been for a lie. All that time, he thought he was fighting to save his sister, turns out she didn’t need saving. 

“Ned.” Lyanna called, grabbing his forearm. 

He looked up, tears falling down his face as he snapped back to reality. Lyanna was very pale, beads of cold sweat rolling down her forehead. “Promise me.” She said again, her voice a shaky whisper. “Don’t let my son die.” The fear in her voice tore Ned’s heart to pieces. 

“Promise me… promise me, Ned…” She repeated, her voice faltering. She raised her trembling hand, cupping her brother’s cheek. 

Her touch was icy cold. 

Ned looked at her, swallowing a knot in his throat. His voice was trapped, strained under the pain in his chest. Lyanna’s eyes were desperate, waiting for him to answer. In his arms, the newborn stirred, shifting inside the blankets. Ned drew a breath, looking at his sister right in the eye.  “I promise.” He muttered, his voice as steady as he could muster.

As soon as he said those words, Lyanna sighed out in relief. The heaviness left her, and she laid peacefully in the bloody bed. “Thank you.” She whispered, pushing some hairs behind Ned’s ear, smiling gratefully. 

With her remaining strengths, she sat up. Ned tried to stop her, but she was relentless. Once she was propped up in the bed, she looked at the baby. “Let me hold him.” She said, her voice barely audible. “I want to hold my son.”

Ned nodded, handing over the bundle. Lyanna cradled him in her bloody arms, smiling down at the baby as he shifted around in the covers. The tenderness in her eyes was like nothing Ned had ever seen: a mother’s stare. 

Lyanna smiled, but tears fell from her eyes. “It’s going to be alright, Aegon.” She said, holding him close. “Your uncle will keep you safe, I know he will… Both your father and I, we’ll be waiting for you.”

Ned cried silently, listening to her sister’s dying voice. 

“We love you so much…” She whimpered, thick tears falling down her cheeks. “We’ll always be with you, always…” Her voice began to falter, the light leaving her eyes. “Be brave, and be strong… always.”

The baby cooed and whimpered, breaking his arms free from the blanket. He reached up, his small eyes glued to his mother. Lyanna lowered her face to him, allowing him to touch her face and grab her nose. Tears fell on the baby as Lyanna cried, closing her eyes to feel his touch. Ned watched the bittersweet moment in silence as Lyanna pressed her lips to the baby’s wisps of dark hair, holding in a sob. “I love you.” She whispered before handing him back to her brother.

“Ned,” She said, looking at him. “I’m counting on you, big brother… keep him safe.”

“I will, I swear it.” Ned said, holding the baby close. 

Lyanna gave him a tired smile, resting back on the headboard. Ned looked at her as she closed her eyes, letting out a relieved breath. 

The last breath she ever took.

Ned stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to move. A cold shudder broke through his body when he saw her chest completely still. “Lyanna?” He called, his voice tight as he leaned over her. “Lyanna!” The scream made the baby cry in his arms. Ned cried too, cupping his sister’s cold cheek as he felt part of the world crumble around him. He climbed onto the bed, holding his sister’s face with one hand. “No…” He muttered, shaking his head.

Lyanna laid still on the bed, a faint smile on her face as it rested on her brother’s hand. The baby kept crying, but Ned was too in shock to do anything about it. He barely noticed when one of the women walked up to him and took Aegon away. He could only see his sister, dead in a pool of her own blood. His only sister, gone. 

He pulled her into his arms, crying into her hair. The rest of the servants left the room, closing the door behind them. All the fighting, all the dying… it was for nothing at the end. 

Lyanna was dead.

After what felt like an eternity, Ned let go of his sister’s body. Carefully, he laid her back down on the bed. He fixed the bloody covers over her, making it look as if she were sleeping. He leaned over her, pressing one last kiss to her forehead.

The maids were waiting outside the room. Ned opened the door and allowed them inside. “I want you to clean my sister up.” He said, his voice hoarse. “I’m taking her home.”

The women nodded, going to the bed. 

Ned watched from the side of the room, his heart heavy. The woman carrying the baby came in, offering it to Ned. He took the child, looking down at it with weary eyes.

Howland Reed came into the room. The man’s eyes widened with grief when he saw Lyanna’s corpse. Lyanna had defended his honor, and he couldn’t save her. However, nothing could compare to the shock in his face when he saw the baby in the Ned’s arms. “Oh no…” He muttered, piecing it together.

Ned didn’t answer, his eyes glued to the baby. He shifted in the covers, trying to find a comfortable position against his chest. For some reason, it pained Ned to look at him. He handed the baby over to the woman again. “I need to think.” He said, leaving the room.

The corpses from the last battle outside the tower laid on the floor in pools of their own blood. Ned looked at them, studying their expressionless faces. Just a few hours ago they were alive, fighting for a cause they believed in. 

A sudden wave of anger rose in his chest. Lyanna may have loved Rhaegar, but it didn’t excuse what they did. She allowed the entire realm to believe she was taken, their father and Brandon had lost their lives when they tried to get her back. Robert and him had gone to war… so many lives were lost, and all because of their selfish elopement. 

And now there was a child. The innocent baby back in the tower… the heir to the Iron throne, or the would be heir, if Robert hadn’t rebelled. Ned had promised to look after him, but how? Robert would kill any man, woman, or child with Targaryen blood. Even more if he was Lyanna and Rhaegar’s son. Or even if by some miracle Robert spared the boy, he would never be safe. Someone would come after him, like they were coming for Rhaegar's siblings, and one wasn’t even born yet. 

His name would get the boy killed. 

Ned was too lost in his own thoughts to hear Howland coming towards him. “He’s Rhaegar's, isn’t he?” He asked, looking down at the floor. “The boy.”

“Yes.” Ned sighed, looking up at the horizon.

“What will we do with him?” He asked. “Should we give him to Rober-”

“No!” Ned cut him off, turning to look at him. “Robert can’t know… he'll kill him.”

“But Lyanna-”

“Lyanna wanted him to live.” Ned explained, his voice shaking. “I promised her I’d keep him safe.”

“He’s a Targaryen” Reed insisted, walking up to him. “Didn’t we just fight a war to overthrow their family?”

“He’s also a Stark.” Ned replied, standing tall. “He’s my nephew, my blood.”

Howland looked down, nodding. “Very well… We don’t tell Robert.” He said. “But then how do we hide that we have the heir to the Iron throne in that tower?”

Ned sighed, looking down. “I’ll figure out what to do.” He assured him. “Just give me some time.”

 

********

 

Ned watched the candle burn on his nightstand, the wax slowly dripping down its side. The light was reflected on his bloodshot eyes, bouncing off the emptiness in them. He had gone to see Lyanna. She was cleaned from the blood and dressed in a fresh dress. If it weren’t for the paleness of her skin, Ned could’ve sworn she was about to wake up. She would sit up and smile at him, telling him it had all been a joke. She hadn’t eloped and married the prince, that hadn’t started a war that killed hundreds, and she hadn’t died giving birth to Rhaegar's son. 

She didn’t wake up, and the reality remained the same.

He left the room as they prepared her for the trip to Winterfell, too pained to stay in there much longer. Ned came into his room next, and he hadn’t left it since.

The weight of his promise to Lyanna was already falling on him. His thoughts kept wandering to Catelyn Tully, Cat, his wife. The last he knew of her was that she was with child, most likely it had already been born. He was shocked when his first thought was that Aegon and his child would then grow up together. If it could only be that simple… Bringing the baby home would mean endangering his family. Of course he could try and shield the boy behind the castle walls, try to fight off any attacker who may try to breach them. However, the Targaryen name had become synonymous with a death sentence for all those with it and near it. 

How would he keep his promise?

Deep in thought, he found his way to the room Lyanna had died in. The bloody covers were gone, along with the mattress. There was only the wooden base of the bed left, sitting there, lonely and sturdy. On the side of the room, there was a small crib. Small breaths and soft whimpers came from inside, bouncing off the empty walls.

Ned walked over to the crib, his heart racing as he got closer. He still hadn’t wrapped his head around the fact that he had an actual Targaryen in front of him, and he was his nephew. A child that, in another life, would’ve been in line for the Iron Throne.

Aegon was awake, looking around with his little dark eyes. He had no idea his parents were gone, his father brutally murdered and his mother dead in a bed of blood. He had only came into the world, and he had already lost everything. 

In part because of Ned. 

He had aided Robert in his fight against his father’s family, he supported the man who crushed his father’s chest with a hammer. Thanks to him and the rebellion, he would have to live in fear, waiting for his name to kill him. If it weren’t for Ned, Aegon could still have a father; and be in line for the Iron throne. 

And then there was his sister, gone forever. Perhaps if Rhaegar hadn’t died, or if she had been in a better place at the time of birth, she could’ve survived. The thought haunts him, that he may have played a part in his sister’s death by unknowingly fighting against her. In any case, Ned had lost his sister, along with his father and brother.

The baby studied him quietly as Ned looked at the floor, his gaze lost. When Ned finally looked at him, something snapped. Tears filled his eyes as that little child’s eyes met Ned’s, and he found a pair of familiar dark eyes staring back at him: 

_ Lyanna.  _

A tear rolled down Ned’s cheek, falling into the crib. With shaking hands, Ned picked the boy up. He carried him back to the wooden bed, sitting down on the edge with the baby in arms. Ned kept looking at his eyes, feeling his heart swell when he saw his sister in them. 

She was still there. 

Ned sobbed, the tears falling down his face. The baby kept looking at him as he cried, oblivious to what had happened. Ned was looking at the floor when he felt something pulling at his shirt. Ned’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the little baby’s hand gripping one of the leather straps on his shirt. Aegon looked at him with his mother’s dark, loving eyes. If Ned hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn he was trying to comfort him. It made him smile, a warm tenderness spreading over his chest.

“It’ll be alright.” He whispered to the baby. “You have me… and I won’t let anyone hurt you, you are my blood.”

The baby cooed, reaching his hands up. Ned held the boy close to his face, smiling through teary eyes as the baby grabbed his nose. The softness in Ned’s eyes only grew the longer he stared at that boy, unable to look away from his eyes. He didn’t want to lose those eyes again. 

 

*******

 

They were ready to ride for Winterfell by dawn. Howland Reed oversaw the last preparations, Ned nowhere to be found. Howland was checking the cart with Lyanna’s body when he saw Ned coming down from the tower with the baby in his arms. “Where had you been?” He asked. 

Ned didn’t answer, instead looking at the cart with gloomy eyes. He sighed deeply, placing his hand on it. “It doesn’t matter. “ he said, turning to face his friend. “It’s time to go home.”

Without another word, Ned mounted his horse. He fixed the baby in his grasp, holding him steady. Aegon whimpered and shifted inside the covers he was wrapped in, yawning before closing his eyes and settling against his uncle’s chest. Ned smiled faintly, fixing his grip on him.

Howland mounted his horse, riding up to Ned’s side. “So what are you going to do with the baby?” He asked, looking at Aegon.

“He’s coming to Winterfell.” Ned announced. “He’s my blood.”

“Robert will never let him live, you can’t-”

“He won’t know who he is.” Ned replied. 

Reed frowned. “Then how will you explain why you brought a baby with you?”

“All men father bastards.” Ned replied, looking down at the boy for a moment. 

Howland stared at him, his eyes wide. “You are not serious.” He shook his head. “What will your wife say? What will the other lords say? Doing this will tarnish your honor, you can’t-”

“I’ll gladly let my honor be tarnished if it means I keep my sister’s son alive.” Ned cut him off. “He’s my blood, and I will protect him.”

Howland stared at him, but Ned simply rode away. 

After a moment he stopped, turning around to look at his companion. “Howland,” He said. “No one can know what happened here. So, in honor of Lyanna’s memory, swear to me that you will take what you have seen to your grave.”

Howland hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I swear by the old gods and the new, not a single soul will learn of what happened here.” He said.

“Good.” Ned sighed, turning back around.

And so they rode away from that tower in Dorne, never to return again. They all rode in silence: Eddard Stark, the new Lord of Winterfell; Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch; Lyanna Stark, Robert’s lost love; and Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know... I just kinda wanted to write this.
> 
> I would really appreciate feedback so I may improve my writing in the future.
> 
> Thank you! and I hope you enjoyed the story.


End file.
